Americans rated most hilarious in global poll

LONDON (Reuters) - The Germans have been voted the world's "least funny nationality" in a global poll, which names Americans the funniest overall and the Spanish the most amusing Europeans, ahead of the Italians and French.

The social network and dating website Badoo.com asked 30,000 people across 15 countries to name both the "funniest," or best at making people laugh," and "the least funny" nationality.

Americans took the funniest prize, followed by the Spanish in second and Italians in third.

The voting for "least funny" nationality confirmed the view of American novelist Mark Twain that "a German joke is no laughing matter."

The Germans won comfortably, ahead of the Russians and Turks.

Yet, the British -- whose "The Office" and Monty Python shows have become pillars of English-language humor -- learn from the Badoo poll that they are not as funny as they think. They placed just seventh out of 15 -- behind the Brazilians, French and Mexicans.

But they ranked higher when Badoo asked the opposite question: Which nationality do you find the least funny? Here, the British ranked fourth, just after the Turks.

"I'm afraid that we don't find some of the results very funny," said Badoo's Director of Marketing Lloyd Price, who is British.

The Americans topped the poll, as the folks who brought us TV sitcoms like Friends, The Simpsons, Frasier, Seinfeld and any number of comic greats from the Marx Brothers to Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Larry David, Ben Stiller or now Tina Fey.